Postoperative ileus (PI) is defined as an interruption of bowel function aftersurgery. It is the most important determinant of length of stay (LOS) after abdominal surgery, and thus has significant implications in hospital resource utilization. The pathogenesis is multifactorial. Predictive factors are not fully known. Although laparoscopic surgery reduces the recovery time of bowel transit it has also recorded PI rates.

Objective:

To evaluate the incidence and analyze predictive factors of PI after laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

Methods:

A retrospective study was performed using a prospective collected database of all patients who underwent a laparoscopic colorectal procedure between March 2000 and June 2011. PI was defined as a delay of the postoperative recovery time and bowel transit without a secondary etiology. The patients were divided in two groups: normal recovery (G1) and patients with PI (G2). As potential predictive factors for PI, demographic characteristics, surgery-related variables and disease-related variables were considered. Univariate analysis was performed to identify individual predictive risk factors for PI. Factors with p values below 0.05 were included in a regression model. The results were expressed as odds ratio (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI).